We approached this contest with modest expectations. We expected
to be louder as we were transporting an amp north, and we had
some ideas on how to improve antennas. The amp arrived in good
shape, but the hand-carried 3-500Z didn't as it appeared that the
anode and cathode were shorting. Placing the amplifier in a
non-standard position did allow for operation but originally only
on 80m and 40m. On the second day, it decide to work on 20m as
well! Our 80m vertical dipole did allow us to get on the band
and we could hear lots of stations, but alas, we were not heard.
40m sloper and 20m Moxon together with the 5 band R5 vertical did
okay for us. This year we added a rotator for the Moxon and that
improved the 20m situation. On 40m, the 61 q's is by far our
best effort on that band and while we didn't expect anything out
of 15m the 3 contacts yielded 6 mults. The stars did align on the
operating front and for the first time, we could maintain 48 hour
coverage. So, our modest expectation was to beat last year and a
hoped for 200 q's but in the end we more than doubled that and
hopefully exceeding that of 2015. It's a modest score in
comparison to other multi-single efforts, and our efforts will
never overcome the reality imposed by a latitude of 80N and a
location that is measured in 10s of kilometers from the
geomagnetic pole. Our thanks to all that dug us out of the
noise!
Ps. In keeping with the educational component of our
day jobs, we also are introducing some of our colleagues to the
thrill of contesting. Some may have noticed a new "voice" from
time to time.
73 de VE3KTB and VE1RUS